Thomas Tuchel delivers ultimate praise for England star after Uruguay draw

Thomas Tuchel was quick to praise an England debutant following the Three Lions’ 1–1 draw against Uruguay at Wembley on Friday (27 March), with the German making a huge comparison.

Tuchel named a young side ahead of the clash, with Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford and Everton midfielder James Garner both receiving their first senior caps.

Ahead of the fixture, most of the media narrative centred around Ben White’s inclusion in the squad, with the Arsenal defender previously making himself unavailable for selection after a fallout with then England assistant head coach Steve Holland at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

White was introduced by Tuchel in the 69th minute at Wembley and received a mixed reception, with some sections of the England fan base greeting him with boos while others gave him a warm welcome.

And 12 minutes after coming on, the 28-year-old prodded home England’s opener, scoring his first Three Lions goal in the process.

However, the evening ended in negative fashion for White as he gave away a stoppage-time penalty, which Fede Valverde converted to make it 1–1, ending England’s run of six successive clean sheets.

While White had a mixed evening, debutant Garner put in a fine showing, completing 37 of his 40 attempted passes. He also created four chances, won three tackles and six duels.

James Garner impressed on debut (Credit:Getty)

The Manchester United academy graduate has impressed under David Moyes at Everton and his debut performance also earned praise from Tuchel, who described him as England's “mini-Valverde”.

"He’s getting there and he played very well,” Tuchel said when assessing Garner’s performance.

“He has this natural confidence, very physical, won a lot of balls. In some situations, he could be more open in his body position and drive more with a bit more confidence. He was involved in some ball losses which cost us some confidence in the last 10 minutes of the first half but was very impressive with how he trained and how he played."

Meanwhile, despite praising Garner, the England boss was not so complimentary of Phil Foden, who failed to make a positive impact.

"In moments, I thought he could be a bit more adventurous and could be a bit more like a number 10 and try a little bit more and take a bit more risk,” Tuchel said.

Foden is among the contenders to start in the number 10 position at the 2026 World Cup, with Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer all battling for a spot in Tuchel’s starting XI.

England return to action at home against Japan on 31 March.